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Human Rights Watch condemns abuse of lawyers in China

Chinese lawyers who take cases which are considered
politically sensitive by the regime are subject to threats and actual physical
assault, according to a report released Tuesday by US-based rights organization
Human Rights Watch (HRW).

According to HRW, a group of lawyers who had publicly
offered to defend Tibetan protesters earlier this month were warned by the
Chinese Ministry of Justice not to get involved or they would face disciplinary
sanctions and jeopardize the renewal of their professional licences for the
year, reported the dpa.

Ministry officials contacted individual lawyers and heads
of law firms who had made the offer and warned them that the cases of Tibetan
protesters were "sensitive cases," the organization said.

The Ministry of Justice has the power to suspend the
lawyers' licences if they do not comply, and such threats are increasingly
common for lawyers trying to take such "sensitive" cases, the
organization said.

China has rejected the allegations contained in Tuesday's
report as coming from a group that has always had "prejudices,"
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

"Chinese
lawyers are Chinese citizens. Chinese citizens benefit from all the laws and
corresponding freedoms and rights," she said.